


The Rose Queen: Eternal Snow

by championmugger



Category: NU'EST, PRISTIN (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Drama & Romance, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 09:35:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11460855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/championmugger/pseuds/championmugger
Summary: They say when the red snow falls like ice petals,  a new queen will rule the land.A queen with skin white as snow and eyes clear as day,lips dyed in rosy red and hair dark as night;There she comes, falling out of the sky,from a distant land with a foreign tongue.They call her 'Alice',welcome to the new Wonderland.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by both Alice in Wonderland, as well as NU'EST's Q is. teasers and Overcome MV. The story takes place in post-Alice wonderland, to give a basic gist. Nonetheless, there will be quite a few new elements, and new construct of Wonderland. There will be mature themes in this whole fic, such as violence. I always put the triggers at the beginning of the chapters so look out for that, and let me know if you need a particular trigger tagged.
> 
> This is a reboot of what I've written on AFF in the past. I'm hoping to finish the story this time. Please leave me any comments!

   **[♛]** \-  Snow, inches-deep, blanketed the vast lands.   
   It's been days, months - _years_ \- since the departure    
 of  Alice  into  her real world.  Then,  the Red Queen  
 was exiled to the  darkest end of Wonderland as the  
  kind White Queen took over. The lands flourished in   
 nature's blessings,  with gardens  blossoming in full  
 loom, and the lands was in a  blissful state of Spring  
  for years...till the disappearance of the White Queen.

   In just  the span of hours,  flowers  shrivel  and trees  
   shrunk;  the lands went barren, and the constant fall  
   of snow buried life underneath. Nothing was ever the  
   same  since. Life  ebbed  away  in  the  Wonderlands,  
  leaving only sparse branches and ample snow.  Most  
   animals  went  into  hiding,  a  large  portion  putting  
   themselves in long periods of hibernation in hopes of  
   waiting for their  queen's return, should they even be  
    able to survive  the  harsh winters  in  the first  place.

   A few weren't as lucky - sleep was nearly impossible  
  and  the  search  for survival  was  imminent.  In this  
   version of Wonderland where  the sun never seem to  
    rise longer than  few hours; a new breed of monsters  
   lurk in the shadows, growing in  numbers  with each  
    passing day. The howl of the wolves, hungry for flesh;  
    the giggling of the sirens  near the semi-frozen  lake,  
   seemingly unaffected by the biting waters; the crackle  
    of the hungry cunning vultures, where a quick  swoop   
    ends always with one last cry of desperation, and then  
_silence_.  Wonderland  was  no way better  than  it  was  
   under the iron fist of the Red Queen, but this time, no  
   one was on the side of the original Wonderlanders.    

 **{ ♕ }**   **One** -  He awoke from his shell, tattered from the   
  relentless winds. The world was no longer the way he  
  had remembered,  and neither was it  the one  that he  
      foresee before falling into slumber.                                   
**{ ♕ }**   **Two**  - Escape was his forte, the master of picking  
   up where the  wind was. Always  running  against  the  
   winds,  never with,  because that's  where the hunters  
    were waiting with bare teeth  and cheek-tearing smile.  
**{ ♕ }**   **Three**  -  The  watch  no longer  ticked.  The  hour,  
   minute  and second hand  never worked as time came  
    to a still, just like his usual steps, slowing to the point  
     where falling snow could cover his tracks.                      
**{ ♕ }**   **Four**  -   Everything  was  gone  -  the  Queen,  his  
    home,  enveloped in  a blizzard  in few hours, warping  
     his reality of another winter fantasy, except that it was   
   more like a nightmare than a happy ending.                  
**{ ♕ }**   **Five**   -  once renown over  the land for his talents,  
    the  room  laid  in  ruins.  The fleeing people,  screams  
    of despair, the blazing flame  -  they haunt him till the  
    end of  time, mocking,   _jeering_ , the voices with a vice-  
             like grip.                                                                               

     It's been days when the snow first fell; time lost its worth  
       when nothing seemed  to progress  save for an unending    
        chain  of  madness.  Perhaps  it  has  been  several  years.    
                                            But who keeps the count when your life is at stake?                                                

_And snow continues to fall..._


	2. Nightmares In Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **When nightmares become a reality,  
>  does the reality become a dream?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: suffocation

_'Cold_.' The brunette shivered, the chill from her bare skin touching the snow running up her spine, making her teeth clatter. Lashes fluttered as she struggled to push herself up, eyes tearing up from the freezing wind that seemed to cut through her body. Hands instinctively wrapped themselves around her torso as the girl tucked her legs in, her thin clothing made little to defend herself against the cold. 

_'Where am I?'_

Her vision cleared slightly, the realization that she was outdoors hitting her soon enough as drops of falling snow land on her skin, melting with the warmth at the cost of her discomfort. There was confusion, spelled in bold across her features, and then a sense of loss and fear coursing through her veins in the next. The place was nothing she knew of, with trees not too far from this clearing she was supposedly in, but not at all inviting as it seemed like a set out of a horror movie. Branches black as soot sprawled like ragged thorns from cracked trunks, like a blaze had robbed the forest of its greenery, leaving behind a bitter aftermath, tragic and horrific. In the distance she could have sworn she heard the howling of wolves, conjuring images of creatures with neat rows of razor-sharp teeth, lurking in the dark.

Eyes tracked down her hands to the clothes she was wearing, panic filling her orbs as her breathing quickened. She was still in her pajamas, cherry patterns that looked like it was taunting her plight than offered a sense of security. _A nightmare_ , her mind reasons, conscious and in full alert, but she deep down she knew it wasn't that simple. This unrelenting cold, this rattling fear coming from inside...these emotions were far too real to be pushed off as a dream.

Yet, there simply was no other explanation. 

Wisps of white smoke left her lips whenever she heaved, floating into the air and disappeared in the falling snow. She shivered, the colds rendering her numb and toes curled and stiff. A few staggering steps before she stumbled, crashing face-first into the thick layer of white. _It hurts_ , she whimpered, the freeze burning into her skin enough to make her scream, but no voice came out from her weakened lungs. The brunette managed a groan, tears streaking down her cheeks turned to ice when she flipped herself over.

Despair grew from within her, bubbling fear spreading across her chest. It felt like weights were placed on top of her, intending to bury her six feet under. 

'I can't breathe...' 

Chin tilted upwards as she gasped for air, she vague heard the sounds of flapping wings - it's rustling feathers brought forth a wave of panic, the sickening sound of a loud caw ripped through the air. She blinked away the wet vision, survival instincts kicking in a fight-or-flight moment when a creature with a hideous beak swooped down towards her. She was far too slow, too much in pain to put up a fight when the bird landed on her abdomen, the crushing pain of the bony claws felt like it was going to break her ribs. The thump of her heartbeat deafened her cries, as the claws dug into her thin shirt, as the creature raised its beak and aimed for a clean swipe-

* * *

"-ah. Noona!"

She forced her eyes opened, jolting up from the bed with heavy breathing. Her brother jerked in surprise, the young child taking a few steps back. 

"Siyoon..." she wiped the tears streaming down her face, feeling the coldness of the sweat pooled around her temples. Siyoon blinked, confused at his sister's reaction, but too worried to step out. Waddling forward, the four-year-old raised his stubby hands, offering her a hug like how he usually was when he had a bad dream. Yuha blinked, lips curled as she finally broke out in a shaky laughter.

'It's just a nightmare,' she heaved, relieved that she's finally pulled out from the dreamscape. Her heartbeat evened out slowly just as the young boy pulled away, staring at her with large eyes. "I'm alright Siyoon-ah. Thank you." Her voice cracked from the dryness of her throat, and she closed her eyes when a dizzy spell fell. "Tell umma I'd be down for breakfast in a bit."

Pattering steps suggested her brother's departure, and Yuha pushed herself off the bed, hand on her temples, fingers rubbing in soothing circles. Her whole body was aching as if she ran a marathon the day before; the art club senior dragged her feet to the shared bathroom, wincing as she rubbed her tummy when she noticed something was amiss.

Unlike the smoothness of the usual cotton-tee, she felt the rips of the cotton fabric, her stomach clenching whenever her fingers glazed past the scratch marks. She ran two extra steps into the bathroom, locking the door shut as she braced herself for the inspection. 

There, on her shirt, was two uneven claw rips with the holes the size of a 500-won coin at the tip. Yuha widened her eyes at the faint redness that form a faded brownish tint around the ripped cloth and removed her tee in one quick motion. The marks on her tummy weren't bleeding anymore, a dried layer of blood clots forming from the top down. The cuts weren't bad, and could be passed off as a bad scratch from a cat's paw, but the gap between each stroke tells her otherwise. Wincing as she touches the marks lightly with the tips of her fingers, she could hear the sound of that horrible caw and the raised beak.

"It's just a dream!" she shouted, voice raw and dry, palms pressed on to the sides of the basin to prop herself up. 

"It's just a dream..." she whispered to the mirror image in front of her, but all she saw was uncertainty hanging on her arched brows, and the raw redness of her skin from where she met with the frozen ground.

* * *

'Cold.' She woke up once again in nightmare-land, this time with a pair of socks for better insulation. Yuha gave a bitter laugh, her naturally curled ends brushing against her cheeks when a harsh wind howled. It was as if she's used to shuddering in this freezing temperature like it was no longer a surprise that could faze her.

If only she knew better.

Nothing changed in this landscape beside the disappearance from that horrifying creature, but she wouldn't know if they'll appear once more. Perhaps that was meant as a mark to end off this horrible dream, so much so that she scratched herself in the process in an attempt to return to reality. At least, that was the only logical answer. 

It would have been funny knowing that an artsy person like her who defied all logics in her field of designs, was now seeking rationality and comfort in any ounce of plausible reasoning. But out there in the cold once more, all she had were endless questions and wariness for the next possible thing that could attack her. The socks did little to help the cold seeping through the cotton knit, but at least, her toes weren't curling and cramping up in the weather. Rubbing her arms as she moved, each step sinking into the snow, each step took a toll out of her. There were no defined roads and no signs of where she was going, yet she was determined to move least she became a helpless prey to another monstrous creature.

Or rather, it gave her some sense of comfort knowing that she didn't have to watch a mutant vulture swoop in on her like some freshly carved meat on display.

( If she knew she was walking into the lions' den, would she have advanced nonetheless? )

The snow lessened and she stepped on harder, higher grounds. She was no longer sinking into the grainy whiteness, and the ability to catch her footing well encouraged her to move on ahead. There was something unknowingly hopeful about this path, and while the wetness seeping through her socks continued to send chills up her spine, the snow no longer fell on her skin. She looked up at the darkened sky without a single shred of light, yet she could still see her path, the soot-black trees that reached upwards endlessly, plain branches sprawled and takled together like a series of connected nests, intertwined several feet above the ground. She could see some snow - or is it frozen branches - sitting between the twigs, like cotton candy nestled in between.

Yuha rubbed her forearms, breathing laboured. How long had she been walking? Time seemed to have stopped here, yet the wind blew and chilled her skin, and occasionally the swing of a loose black branch would jerk her back to full alertness. The air seemed thicker in the woods, the rigid brownish grounds peeking through the blanketed white from time to time. There was nothing, no mutant vultures, but no signs of life and the thought had her mind running through frantic thoughts.

It must have been at least thirty minutes, but why does it feel like she's wandering in the same spot, like the twitch of a second-hand clock that ran out of battery? She shook her head, hands raised to slap herself on the cheeks lightly. She's just dreaming, the brunette thought, swallowing thickly, and all she had to do was to wait for her body to regain consciousness.

Or not. Jerking as she spun around at the sounds of broken twigs, the rapid pump of her heart had her scanning the place for the intrusion. Goosebumps ran up her skin as fear set in, the girl bracing herself for another giant swoop from the air. No- this time it was different. Senses told her that someone - something - else was out there in the woods, the muffled growl so feral it couldn't be human. There was wetness, the grinding of teeth smashed against each other, and the creature that surfaced shook the very core of her existence.

A wolf, standing at the same height as her or even taller, stood out from the shadows. Yuha could see the messy arrangement of its teeth, seemingly too large for its own mouth, the dribble of saliva thick as glue running down the sides of its mouth. With each gritted grunt the high-schooler took a single step back, its eyes burning a reddish amber in contrast to its black and brown fur. It's like a prehistorical creature, only real and standing right in front of her, sizing her up. Paws as big as a saucer spotted yellow claws, unkempt, raw and grotesque. Her quiet cry went ignored as she crashed into the trunk of a tree, her own teeth clattering partly from cold and the impending threat. It stopped a few meters away from her, but Yuha had no doubts that it could cover the distance in one powerful leap, teeth easily ripping into her flesh before she could even make a run for it. From the corner of her eyes, movement was spotted, and two more similarly sized wolves made their appearance, teeth-jarring mouth looking like a taunting, cruel smile to their prey.

There was no way out, she realised, terror rooting her to the tree, eyes wide as her throat went dry.

"It's just a dream anyway," she whispered, trying to convince herself that this cold she's feeling, the sensation of panic gripping her at the throat was nothing more than a nightmare. The largest one of the trio stepped forth, eyes glinted in a hunter's poise. YUha's fingers gripped at the wood behind her, feeling the sooty feeling of what could be charcoal peeling at the scrunch of her fingers. The wolf bent on its knees, and before she knew it, the giant being leaped into the air.

She screamed, the shout ripped from her throat before she was pushed aside, harshly. 

'What-' her head felt dizzy from the shove as she struggled to push herself up, conscious fading with successive blinks. There was howling, the cries of the wolves covered the tears leaking from her eyes. There was a flash of white, the sound of wolves scratching the ground and twigs breaking from heavy stomps, and the last thing she saw before her conscious left her, was a humanoid figure in ragged clothing, and a mob of blonde hair.

* * *

"Yuha, you looked like _crap_."

The brunette whined, planting her face right smack in the center of her desk as the girl laughed. "Siyeon, you're not helping..." she grumbled, rolling her head from side to side. Baek Siyeon was the one and only close friend she made in high school, having met through a dodgeball game during orientations. Tall, gangling and quiet, the other was the first person to approach her, and as luck would have it, Yuha soon found herself bonding with the other over similar hobbies and preferences. That, matched with the amazing odds in their favor, putting them in the same class for three years in a row had sealed their tangled fate. In fact, Yuha would call Siyeon her best friend if not for it sounding so awfully childish at their age, but that was exactly the term to describe their dynamics. With only different features to set them apart, they were as good as twins with the same tastes and telepathic minds.

Head tilted as she propped it on her chin, Yuha pursed her lips into a fine line. It has been a few days since she woke up in bed, charcoal-like marks on her hands and grit on her socks, soiling even her pastel bedsheets. She googled her odd sleep-walking symptoms, but while it was seemingly the most fitting answer, she wasn't able to convinced herself that the wolves and vultures plaguing her mind were merely a fragment of imagination. The caws and howls; the painful grip and hard shove - she felt the impact and the snow, and those were _not_ mirages.

It came to a point where she felt like she was pushed to the point of insanity because she feared that she would never wake up if she goes to sleep.

A soft hand ran itself through her hair, and Yuha can't help but let out a small smile. Siyeon was so alike but yet, so much more mature compared to her. Always calm and composed, speaking with clear thoughts, Siyeon sometimes

Dark brown eyes met with a pair of raven black ones, and Yuha confirmed it. There was mild concern reflected in those clear, dark orbs, but these nightmares were the last thing she wanted to divulge at the moment. She shook her head, folding her arms as she straightened up. Weariness from the lack of quality sleep created dark circles under her eyes and semi-permanent droopy lids, but it simply wasn't something in her control. At the pending pause, she opened her mouth to say something but decided against it.

"I'm hungry!" she declared instead, standing up from the seat at a towering height as Siyeon arched her brows, and then nodded. Yuha tried an assuring smile, but she knew Siyeon was the last person she could fool. Nonetheless, the other girl accepted it with a shrug of her shoulders, standing up as well.

"I've been waiting for you to say that _forever_. Let's go!"

* * *

"A full lunch makes me sleepy," Yuha yawned, her friend mimicking the gesture beside her. The weather is turning warm, but it didn't stop the cool breeze from slipping past their blazers from time to time, sending shivers down her spine. Yet, it also made for the perfect weather to take a nap, an option especially tempting when she haven't been able to rest her mind fully for several days in a tow. But lunch hour was over and classes had begun, and Yuha supposed it could be a good thing. What if she started sleep-walking in class? 

"That's why it's great having lunch before art class. We can do things at our leisure pace," Siyeon grinned, hands tucked into the pockets of her blazer. Yuha nodded in agreement - art class was the easiest for them, as it was for any art club students, and the chance to wander outdoors to draw whatever they want usually meant a lazy afternoon for a good one hour or so. Perfect for her to get over her carb-coma and find something to distract her wandering thoughts.

Or so she hoped as she roamed the school, drawing block in hand and pencil in her hair. It was some form of art club badge, twisting their hair into a bun and keeping it up with a pencil, but the brunette couldn't deny the handiness of this trick especially when she had to carry a couple of art supplies at one go. Or in this instance, dragging a plastic white chair with her. Strolling to the school pond with Siyeon in a tow, the two girls share small chatter over random ideas of what they wanted to do, she plopped herself onto the chair, block on her lap and pencil removed from her hair. Sketching a pond should be easy enough, even without a easel. Beside her, Siyeon was already marking out the proportions, holding the pencil with an outstretched hand, and Yuha followed suit. 

That is, until something caught her interest. Standing up from the chair as she inched towards the pond, brows furrowed at the looming shadows, her lips pursed into a concentrated pout. Something dark was seeping from under the waters, turning it into a darker color, but no one else seemed to notice the change at all. Siyeon buried her head in her work, silky locks tied up in a loose ponytail that slipped past her side, pencil sketching across the white paper. Yuha turned her focus back onto the pond, squatting down slowly.

There it was, the landscape of her nightmares in full display like a reflection of her inner fears - the greyish-faded snow-laden grounds and trees dark as soot - and she let out a gasp as how they expanded across the body of water. "No-" the words barely left her lips before she found herself heading straight into the pond, the shouts of her classmates the last thing she heard was the loud splash, and darkness engulfed her.

* * *

She surfaced from the water in the freezing cold, the landscape before her eyes turned from the brown grounds and concrete roads to a barren wasteland. Yuha heaved, hands paddling her to the nearest edge of land she could find, pulling herself onto it. The cold is back once more, like the middle of the winter season, unrelenting and sharp as knife. The cold felt painful once again, like tiny needles poking her skin, making them red and raw; her teeth clattered, thoughts in disarray as she coughed, choking on the freezing waters that left an awful salty taste on her tongue. 

_Where was she once again?_

YUha rocked her body, arms crossed in front of her chest as a subconscious effort to retain any last bit of body heat, but temperatures were dropping and she could feel it from the way tiny hair were standing on her hands. Eyes scanning the place before looking down at herself, she realised she's still wearing her school uniform, the exact same outfit as she was before she fell asleep.

Because that's the only reason why she could be there, right?

After all, nightmares happen only when one fell asleep, right?

With shaky hands she removed her blazer, wanting to twist it dry, but even a simple task like this took forever with fingers that were frozen stiff. She sniffed, breath soothing by the time she managed to get the last button off, tugging the heavy blazer off. The piercing wind pressed the wet shirt against her bare skin, and she took a sharp intake of air. Even the way her teeth clatter hurts, something she never knew was possible. 

This wasn't a dream.

 _Rustling._ She straightened up, glancing around. Despite being a trembling mess, adrenaline pump was guiding her through, spurred on by the instinct to survive and the fear acquired from her previous experience. Tiredness was replaced by attentiveness, and the cold helped her to focus better. Yuha hugged the semi-dry blazer to her torso, barely able to push herself off the ground. There was nothing but barren land around this pond, and the woods to the left. There was nowhere to hide, and the woods was not an option she would like to take.

The alternative is back into the waters, which wasn't that much better either. She swallowed, and crouched down. If fate would have her landing into the sub-zero waters, then there she will go. For now she wait with clenched fists of the uninvited guest, and could only hope for the best.

The rustling got louded, the sort that someone was plunging their feet into the snow, with an ice-prick by their side. The snow sounded like sand, with its gritty pieces of the earth, a weird combination for her senses. As a form of last-minute preparations, she tried to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon, but all she had was a pencil in the pockets of her blazer. 

Well, even that would do if worst come to worst.

The figure rose from above the mini slope, and Yuha's jaw slackened at the sight of a hair of blond locks, and a human-like figure in ragged outfit.

" _ı ɟıuɐllʎ ɟouup ʎou._ " 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for now! I'm sorry for not having any of the boys here, but this chapter is important to set the backdrop. Starting next chapter, they will start appearing, and you can who the flash of blond hair is. Please leave any comments, they really motivate me to write. 
> 
> P.S: since it's a reboot, I might have missed out some name amendment. I've tried going through them, but yes Yuha is the main lead and I would be using 'Yuha' as the character's name here. I have my reasons for doing so, which would come up eventually!


End file.
